Snow Dawn
by wildcatinuzuka
Summary: The USS Enterprise gets a historical officer by the name of Yuki Akeru. Then strange things start to happen to Jim and McCoy. Tea from the replicator, memories from the past that involve Akeru, strange incidents and a collar. Jim and Bones want to know what the heck is going on and why it seems to revolve around the Enterprise's newest member.
1. Chapter 1

James Tiberius Kirk was many things. A captain, a friend, a pain in the ass, a genius but _forgetful_ is not one of them and this new ensign was making him feel like he was forgetting something.

Something important.

Jim and the ranking officers were sitting in a conference room at a semi-circle table. The new ensigns file was on their PADDs and the ensign in question was at parade rest.

She was a Kitsurian; a fox-like alien that normally had the look of a fox on two legs but she looked... different. She looked human; the only Kitsurian features that she had were a pair of ears and a tail. Her hair was an arctic blonde and curled down the back of her neck in a short ponytail but the ears and tail were the purest white that Jim had ever seen. Her skin was the colour of peaches and cream. Her eyes were a startling shade of ice blue, with hints of jade and violet. She reached Jim's shoulder in terms of height and clearly looked like she was Chekov's weight. Bones might lock her in sickbay if Jim wasn't careful. Her crisp blue uniform announced that she was part of the Science department. All in all, a cute little package named Ensign Yuki Akeru.

"This file says that you are religiously mute, is that correct Ensign Akeru?" Ah, good ole Spock, getting straight to the point. The ensign snapped to attention and nodded. Jim glanced at the file and choked on the little bit of water he had drank. She's only 16?! He zoomed in on her IQ scale and nearly spat the water back up. Her IQ rested on the same level as his and Chekov! But her best subjects were history and navigation.

"So you are interested in joining the crew?" Jim asked, recovering enough to lean forward, interlacing his fingers together and looking at her with an intense stare. The Stare had made ensigns with more experience and even ranking officers either squirm in their seats or drop their panties but she just smiled and nodded. Spock looked surprised that The Stare did nothing to her but Jim was undeterred.

"What branch of history do you specialize in?" Uhara asked. Jim wanted to send The Stare her way for interrupting but Ensign Akeru snapped out of attention and snatched the PADD that had been resting on the table and she started to type. They waited for a minute and then she turned the PADD toward them.

 _I specialize in ancient Xeno and Human-weaponry, military tactics and Archeology. I also have an intermediate navigation degree and I can use all the weaponry I studied at an intermediate level._

Ok, so she was a historian and she had combat and navigation training. That made her useful. Jim was sold but he had one more question...

"Why did you leave the _USS Mozart_?" Spock asked. Damn Vulcan beating him to the punch. Akeru looked contemplative for a minute and then she typed.

 _I left because of racism. I'm half Kitsurian and half human so I never fit in to begin with but it got worse the longer I was on there. It didn't help that the Command and crew was 100% human. I was the experiment; to see if Kitsurians' could work with others. I have seen them chase Vulcans and Orions off so I left before I could get hurt._

Jim inhaled deeply; wanting nothing more than to go to the _USS Mozart_ and smash their heads in. From the sounds of it, the other ranking officers wanted to do the exact same thing but she smiled at them and raised the PADD again.

 _I will be ok. Fine... no. But I will be ok and I gotta keep going. Smile and laugh; never fill your day with negativity but with love, life and laughter._

Jim choked back the tears and he saw McCoy, Uhara and Sulu doing the same thing. Spock had remained as stoic as ever but he saw that he had a wet look to his eye. Jim smiled at her and she smiled back.

"Congratulations Ensign Akeru, welcome to the _USS Enterprise_. The heads of the science department will make sure that you have a work-station. Your room number is 89 on level F. You have the rest of the day off but report in for Beta shift in Science and Gamma shift on the bridge tomorrow. Dismissed." She snapped back to attention and saluted. She marched out the door.

Jim turned to the rest of the command, "Well, we have a half-Kitsurian. How does that make everyone feel?"

Spock spoke first, "I think that having a little more diversity is logical for the crew morale. She also has a degree in a variety of skill sets so that proves beneficial to us." Always the logical one, that Vulcan.

"I agree, but the fact that she's religiously mute could cause some problems. Plus I never heard of a Kitsurian religion that required selective mutism." Uhara added as she flicked through the file.

"She's damn smart though, and tha would benefit her here," McCoy said while skimming through her medical files, "But the darling's missing a physical. She was due for her last one two weeks ago."

"That is logical, considering her situation on the _USS Mozart_."

"Another thing, that story was touching but can we confirm it?" Jim asked, watching their reactions. Spock still looked calm but Sulu and Uhara looked angry at Kirk for suggesting it. McCoy looked perturbed but not worried.

"I can confirm it," Sulu stated. Jim turned his attention to the man only to see him shake with anger, "My first helmsmen duty was on the _USS Mozart_ and the command is made up of white men. No females, no coloured folk and _no aliens_. I stayed for a year before I was told I was being transferred to the _USS Enterprise_. I took the transfer and ran. I've seen them chase off about twenty girls and fifty aliens. I'm surprised they let her leave because they normally have a no transfer rule."

Jim's eyebrow went up at Sulu's rage but it was understandable. Sulu was the reliable one so Jim took his word for it.

"Lieutenant-Commander Sulu is correct. The command of the _USS Mozart_ received multiple discrimination reports but no charges. Why is that Lieutenant-Commander?" Spock asked

"Because they use threats against family and loved ones to keep the crew in control and if you try to get out or speak out, you disappear," Sulu responded, "Thanks for sticking her near Pasha and I by the way, We could help her get used to the ship and Pasha might bring her out of whatever shell that cursed ship gave her."

Jim smiled at the command officers... that girl should be alright.

Yuki walked to her new room with a brisk pace. Life on the _USS Mozart_ and as a slave had given her a desire to be on time and available for anything. She entered the lift and entered level F onto the keypad. The lift descended with the faintest hint of a whisper. She enjoyed the little noise that the lift provided. Yuki hated silence; the _USS Mozart_ was too silent for her taste. After all, Aniki was loud and noisy. Onii-kun was always bonking Aniki in the head for being loud and noisy.

The doors opened and she quickly scampered out of the lift, heading down the hall. She watched the numbers on the doors; looking for 89.

"Hello! You losz? I can help!"

She whipped around, startled at the voice. In front of her was a teenage boy no older then eighteen. Thin, gangly and freckled; he had blonde curls and a great big grin on his face.

"Izs joosz zhaz you looked losz and I vanzed zo see if wou needed help finding anyzhing." He bubbled out. His accent was a little odd but she adored it. She typed on her PADD and showed it to him.

 _I'm a little lost. Can you direct me to Personal Quarters 89?_

The boy beamed at her and snagged her arm; dragging her away.

"You are in luck! My boyfriend and I live in ze zwo Quarzers across from zhere. I can show you ze vay."

Yuki smiled as the excited person dragged her along, her satchel of personal belongings bouncing with every step.

"My name is Pavel Andereivich Chekov, by ze vay. If you need anyzhing, just knock on one of ze doors and ve vill be willing zo help!" He was practically bouncing down the hall. Yuki wondered if someone spoon fed the adorable creature in front of her sugar or something else ridiculously sweet.

They soon arrived at the end of the hallway. 89 was on her left while 90 and 91 were on her right. Pavel let go of her arm and waved towards the door with a grand and theatrical gesture.

Yep, someone spoon fed him sugar.

"Velcome zo room 89! A nice room vith zwo vindows; you also share a bazeroom vith Ensign Sugar. Da, his lasz name is Sugar. Huckleberry Sugar is a sveez hearz and vill commandeer the levels kizchen to zo some baking. He loves zo joke and vaz noz so zake his humour in szride; he also vorks in Science so he can help you get zhere. Anyzhing else? Oh! I almosz forgoz! Ve hawe a pozluck every Friday so cook a culzural dish."

"Pasha!"

They both turn around. The Asian man from earlier comes running down the hall. He tried to stop but Pavel moved her out of the way and they watch as the man ran into the wall. He even made that little funny 'squee' sound as he slid down. Pavel giggled and went to help the man up.

"Hi Karu, how vas you day?" Pavel asked as he dusted the man off. The man smiled and pecked Pavel on the lips. Pavel giggled again and waited.

"My day was great; we welcomed a new Ensign and everything."

"Zhat new Ensign?"

They turned back to Yuki, who was grinning at them.

"Ah, Ensign Akeru, have you been inside? Wait, don't answer that. I think I know the answer," The man said. Pavel snorted in amusement at that, "I'm Lieutenant-Commander Hikaru Sulu. I trust my loving boyfriend hasn't driven you off the deep end yet?" He asked with a cheeky grin. Pavel swung at him with a mock offended gasp. Yuki typed quickly and turned to show them.

 _I know what you aren't getting tonight!_

Hikaru read it quickly and started to let loose peals of laughter. Pavel fell into a fit of hysterical giggles.

"She's a keeper Sulu!"

"I know Pasha, I know!"

 _I have to head for bed; I have a rough day tomorrow,_ She typed with an unmistakeable hint of regret. Pavel and Hikaru wipe some tears from their eyes and smile at her.

"Zake care and have a good nighz sveez hearz." Pavel said as he started to drag Hikaru away.

"Yea, if you need anything; just knock. See you tomorrow."

They disappear into room 90. She turned back to room 89 and punches in the access code. The door slid open with a small 'whoosh'. Pavel was right, she got two huge windows. She loved to see the stars and Yuki sees that there is a bunch of shelves that she could use. The door closed with that same small 'whoosh'. She sets her bag down and slides to the floor, using the door for support as she silently sobbed.

Her Aniki and Onii-kun were alive but they didn't remember her.

Jim groaned as he made his way to the Bridge. The nights just seem to get shorter and shorter.

It was the damn Admirals.

That is what Jim's story was and he was sticking to it.

Spock rounded the corner and raised an elegant eyebrow up at how tired Jim looks.

"What?" Jim snapped as the Vulcan eyebrow goes even further.

"Nothing Captain; it's just that you seem... distracted. Is there a problem?"

"No," Spock's eyebrow disappeared into the hairline, "…Yes... it's the new ensign. I feel like I should remember her but I don't! And I haven't slept with her before because she would have been too young for me!" Jim ranted as they entered the lift. The lift stops at level F and Chekov and Sulu entered the lift with a smile. Jim glanced at them and then turned back to Spock.

"What is it about the ensign that is making you feel like you should remember her?" Chekov and Sulu leaned in a little more but Jim kinda didn't care.

"I don't know Spock! And that's the problem! I wanna remember but it seems like every time that I try, I get a headache that's determined to kill me!" Jim was tired and pissed.

The lift stopped on the mess hall floor and in steps the ensign in question. She has a couple trays of to-go cups and she smells like lavender, chocolate, tea, mint, leather and honey. It was soothing to Jim; like rubbing a balm on an open sore and he felt much better. He watched her tail swing back and forth; a furry pendulum in motion. Jim wanted nothing more than to touch it but he restrained him, unaware that the rest of the senior command was watching Jim with some concern.

The lift stops on the Bridge and all of them get out. Sulu and Chekov booked it for their spots, relieving Gamma shift. Spock goes to his station and Kirk parks himself in the Captains chair. He sighs with immense relief.

Jim loves the chair.

A finger taps his shoulder and he opens his eyes... _When did his damn eyes close_?! Ensign Akeru was standing there with a to-go cup held out to him. Jim tentatively took the cup from him and smiled softly at her. She beamed back and scurried out of the Bridge. Jim quirked his eyebrow in amusement and took a small sip of whatever was inside the cup.

He tasted something a little bitter but oh so warm and full. Honey was the next thing on his tongue; adding a slightly sweet factor and ginger woke him right up. Holy crap, the ensign gave him Black tea with honey and ginger. He licked his lips and proceeded to take another sip.

"Vhaz did you gez Keptin?" Jim looked up to see Sulu attempting to literally chug his drink and Chekov nursing his own cup.

"I got black tea with honey and ginger. What did you get Chekov?"  
" Earl Grey vith some cream and sugar. Sulu goz pure green zea... honey! Zhe zea von't go anyvhere! You can szop drinking iz like iz'll wanish!" Chekov yelped out as Sulu continued to chug the drink.

"So good though!"

"Oh Karu..."

Jim quickly looks around. Why did the ensign make him and the others tea and why did it seem so familiar and so right?

Bones was not having a good day. A Engineer had nearly blow herself up, A Scientist had exposed himself to a virus and a Security officer had something stuck up his ass that Bones didn't want to think about.

At all.

It scarred Bones for life and he hoped that something like that would never happen again but he knew that it was more than likely to.

The doors slid open and he turned to snap at the person when he saw the new Ensign Akeru. She looked like she didn't want to be here. Bones knew then and there that he would be hunting her down for every medical procedure. She was carrying a to-go tray that had two cups left. Her tail swung nervously behind her.

"Whatcha want darling?" Bones asked. Akeru looked at the to-go cup and then plucked one out of the tray. She presented it to him with a warm smile. Bones took the cup gingerly; treating it like it was made of fire.

She beamed at him and then bounced out of Sickbay. Bones watched her bounce out the door and then took a tricorder to the cup and did a quick scan. He waited a minute and read the screen when it beeped. Black Chinese tea with honey and ginger; why tea? He sipped the drink and he suddenly got the sense of home that he had been missing since his nasty divorce with Jocelyn. He examined the cup with no small amount of shock.

Just who was this ensign?

 ** _Wildcat: Pretty good... right? I own nothing but I welcome reviews. Read my other stories please._**


	2. Chapter 2

Yuki flopped on the bed. She had not gotten enough sleep and Beta shift starts in two hours. She glared at the alarm clock and sighed; only to jump up at the shock the collar that was nestled forcefully against her neck gave her. She glared at it in the mirror and started to drift back to that day; the day that Jim and Bones promised her that it would all be ok.

 _Jim, Yuki and Bones were sitting on the grass by the Golden Gate Bridge, watching the stars go by. All of them were wearing the kimonos that Yuki had made for their birthdays. Bones's kimono was a shade of navy blue with a white and gold crane on the back. Jim's was light green with sheep bouncing around on the hem and back. Yuki's was orange with a dragon on the back that circled to the front. Jim lay on the ground with his head on Yuki's lap and his legs sprawled out on Bones's knees. Yuki's fingers were running through Jim's corn blonde locks._

 _"_ _Hey Aniki; we'll always be family right?" Jim opened his eyes to see Yuki looking close to crying. Jim sat up and quickly turned to face her._

 _"_ _This is because of Komack, isn't it?" Bones asked as he settled on the side that wasn't occupied by Jim. She slowly nodded. Jim and Bones exchanged a look. They had to remember that Yuki was only fifteen and oh so afraid of losing the people she loved._

 _They had gotten a visit from Admiral Komack earlier this week; who demanded that Jim get rid of Yuki and focus on training. Jim had told Komack to go shove it... politely of course but this didn't satisfy the man. He insisted that they broke their friendship with her immediately. Jim had thrown him out of the dorm; again politely. Yuki had been scared for the rest of the week and nothing Bones and Jim had done made her feel better._

 _Jim pulled her into a hug; Bones joined in a second later, "Yuki, we're family and family never leaves each other behind and we would never forget you."_

 _She sniffed and wiped her eyes with the edge of her sleeve._

 _"_ _Promise?" Yuki asked._

 _"_ _Promise," Jim and Bones chorused._

 _"_ _Ah, ah, ah boys; don't make promises you can't keep."_

"Ensign Akeru! Thirty minutes till we leave," Yuki jumped at the unfamiliar voice coming from the bathroom. A knock rang out through the room. She quickly scampered out of the bed and answered the bathroom door, a blush gracing her face at what she saw. A man that was five foot eight was standing there with a towel on his hips. Bright purple hair curled down to mid-shoulder area and his eyes were dark green, "Hi love I'm Huckleberry Sugar; your bathroom partner. I want to get you down early and make sure that you are set up with an appropriate station for your research and work. I also hear that you have Gamma shift on the Bridge so I hope have gotten plenty of rest," He smiled. Yuki typed quickly and turned that PADD toward Sugar.

 _Alright, I'll see you in thirty minutes._

He smiled and closed the door. She waited a few seconds. When she heard the second door close, she bustled in and locked the other door. Yuki bolted back to her room and got a shampoo that was a gift from Aniki. He had bought her favourite shampoo and conditioner in bulk; lavender spearmint. She stripped off everything but that damn waterproof shock collar; hopped in the shower and turned on the water; letting it course down her skin and fur. She applied liberal amount on her tail and hair; rinsing it out after a minute. Conditioner was next and a brush was run through the tail and hair. She scrubbed her skin with matching soap-a gift from Onii-kun- and rinsed herself off. Yuki stepped out of the shower into the steam that curled and danced in the air. She walked out of the bathroom and started to get dressed, ignoring the pale scars that littered her body.

Yuki was far too used to the pale lines that cover her skin. She used to be ashamed of them but when you are rooming with two of the best minds and most observant eyes in Starfleet, you just can't hide jack and all the foundation in the world won't help you. Jim had hid her make-up from her and Bones had stood her in front of a mirror and told her to write at least one post-it note a day with one positive thing about herself and stick it on the edge of the mirror. Jim had got roped into it and he stuck ' _You are beautiful_ ' in big loopy cursive. Bone had stuck a ' _You are wonderful_ ' on and Yuki had put ' _I am free_ ' on the edge of the mirror.

She pulled the mountain of sticky notes out and wrote on one ' _I am home_ ' and slapped it onto the edge of the mirror. She slid her boots on and proceeded to the door.

The door opened with that oh so lovable 'whoosh' and Yuki exited the room. She was unsurprised to see Ensign Sugar standing outside his door. Sugar nodded and started to lead her to the lift.

"How the station hash-out works is that the science floor heads get together. Once they decide which level gets you; the heads of that level determine which section gets you. Once that's done, the section head that is lucky calls a sections meeting and the section chooses where you go. Most of the time, you just get an empty workstation but you might get lucky; you also never share a station with another shift," Sugar said as they reached the lift. Yuki and Sugar stepped in and Sugar entered the floor level in with the main science center was located. The lift stopped a few more times; accepting and dispensing crew members at a rate that nearly made Yuki's head spin. It did make her ears flatten against her head though. Huckleberry mistook that gesture as too much noise and rubbed a soothing hand up and down her back. She looked at him and then the lift door finally opened on the floor they were going too.

In front of them stood a large room with stations all over the place; people in blue shirts bustling around with Petri dishes and vials. One station was overgrown with... _was that plants_?! Another station was full of little containers with flickering lights and vials of chemicals. One station was near a pen that had the cutest little ball of fluff that she had ever seen-and she had stuck Jim in a lamb costume for Halloween once- while the only station that was remotely clean had the Vulcan from yesterday manning it. He turned to Sugar and Yuki; who resorted to hiding behind Sugar's back. She used the opportunity to have a look at the Vulcan in front of her. His hair was kept in a short head hugging style and was midnight black. His skin was tan and he was a tall sucker! She had to look up to see his face but there were some hidden human qualities to him. His eyes were fuller than a normal Vulcan's and his frame thinner as well.

He was half human too.

She smiled shyly at him while still hiding behind Sugar.

His eyebrow was rising.

Is that normal?

"You are one hour thirty-five minutes early Ensign Sugar and Ensign Akeru. Why are you early?" The Vulcan asked. Damn Vulcan monotone, it drove her insane. Sugar and Yuki snapped to attention, following protocol.

"Sir, we are early so I could help Ensign Akeru find her way around and to ensure that she gets a station," Sugar stated. Yuki nodded behind him. The Vulcan looked at them for a few minutes and Yuki shifted subtly because the damn man was making her nervous.

"Ensign Akeru, you will be working on this level at station fifteen; if you have any questions just ask your neighbors or myself," The Vulcan stated, "I recommend that you get breakfast with the time you have left before Beta shift starts."

Sugar nods and quickly started to drag Yuki away. Yuki threw a quick salute the Vulcan's way just before the lift doors closed.

Sugar dragged her out of the lift once it reached the mess hall floor and herded her to a replicator. He quickly replicated a full English breakfast and waited for her. Yuki pondered on what she wanted and then it hit her. She typed in exactly what she wanted and waited. A second later, fish and rice appeared on the tray. She smiled fondly and they started to move over to a table when she jogged to the kettles and put on a cup of tea. Huckleberry waited for her to brew her tea and smiled when she plopped a teabag in and placed the cup on the tray. Sugar again herded her but this time to a table in the far corner where a few people were already parked at the table. An Orion woman, a human man that was big and bulky and an alien that looked like the perfect child between a human and a fish, with blue skin.

"Hey yall! How ya doing?" Sugar called to the table as he sat down. Everyone at the table looked at him and grinned

"Hey Huck!"  
"Huckleberry darling, you look thin. You need to eat more."

"Hey Berry, who's the cutie with you? Cheating on Ronan while he's in the Sickbay? Tsk tsk."

Sugar chuckled and sat down between the woman and the alien. He turned back to Yuki and stood back up when he realized that she hadn't sat down yet. Sugar got up and manhandled her gently into the seat beside the man who looked at her with a smile. She shuffled softly, averting her eyes. She never noticed the concerned looks or the mouthed 'new ensign stress' or the mouthed 'no, it looks like something else'.

She gently picked up her chopsticks and started to eat. The other exchanged a look she had only seen on Aniki and Onii-kun and they also started to eat as well. "Hey darling," Yuki looked up when she was addressed by the Orion woman. Not looking up gets a beating, "Where are you from?" Yuki typed on her PADD for a minute and held it up for the table to see.

 _I come from the planet Kitsuria. It's a beautiful place that is very advanced. We still have a monarchy system though._

The Orion woman smiled. The blue alien chortled in amusement and the man waited; sighing softly when Yuki offered no more information.

"What's your name dear?" The man asked. Yuki typed something on the PADD and turned back to the group.

 _My name is Yuki Winona-Georgia Akeru. What are your names?_

The alien beamed at her and started to talk, "My name is T'salk L'nona and I am from the planet Revalri. Minette Gin is from Orion and Jackson Park is from Spain. Ronan Gin is in sickbay but he is also from Orion."

Yuki smiled softly and typed.

 _Why is Ronan in sickbay?_

Huckleberry chuckled dryly, "The idiot exposed himself to a virus that he was helping another scientist study. Thankfully, he stuck up his shield before anyone else could get sick but that meant that he got the full brunt of it. He pulled through luckily but he is in for a hell of a recovery."

Yuki looked sad.

"Hey sugar, what's wrong?"

She typed quickly; then she flipped it over.

 _I didn't steal Ronan's room, did I?_

Huckleberry snorted and shook his head, "No you didn't. Ronan lives across the hall in room 92. He shares the bathroom with Jackson. Actually, all of us live on level F."

Yuki softly grinned and turned back to her food; again missing the concerned looks and the mouthed words.

The rest of the meal passed in the same manner and then Yuki looked at the time. Jumping up and tossing her meal away, it was Huckleberry that ended up being dragged away as she rushed them out; with the others trailing behind them. Jumping in the lift, everyone punched in their destination. Yuki tapped her foot nervously; being late was not a good way to start the day. Everyone got out on various science levels and Yuki was the last one in.

The door opened to screaming.

A man with brown hair and tan skin was standing in front of the Vulcan and seemed to be angry.

"Why is a newbie getting station fifteen when an experienced scientist should get it?!"

"Yeoman Fraserson, your tone is not an acceptable tone to take to a superior officer."

"Sorry Commander Spock but why is a person that is not even a scientist getting a station in this department?! And the largest station no less?! She's just a historian!"

Yuki started to head back into the lift when the First Officer's cold tone filled the air.

"History is a branch of science just as much as navigation and microbiology. They all study something. Her specialization is weaponry and military tactics so it is only logical she gets a larger space so she can test how powerful they are and how they would feel in a person's hands."

"She could do that in a training room sir!"

"She must record her data and must be supervised at all times."

Yuki scurried in at this point and stood beside Spock. She snapped to attention and saluted. The Vulcan quickly turned his attention to her and nodded.

"Your station is right there," He gestured to a station that was in a corner. It was a big station alright. It had a lot of space and Yuki was determined to fill it up... with lots and lots of weapons.

The man walked off with a huff and marched off to a station on the other side of the level; muttering 'stupid Vulcans and their lack of emotions' and 'slutty Kitsurian must have raised her tail to get it'.

Or something like that.

Yuki smiled at Spock and turned to her station, determined to map it out and plan where everything should go.

 ** _Wildcat: Hey! I'm boldly going where no fanfic has gone before! But I own nothing. I wanna own it but it doesn't belong to me._**


	3. Chapter 3

It had been a couple of weeks since Yuki had joined the _USS Enterprise_ and she was settling in just fine if she said so herself. Yuki refrained from making friends though thanks to the last time she had them.

Yuki stumbled into her room, exhausted. The science department had a crisis that involved a couple of sentient plants, copper coins; coconut oil and some much needed operations to remove said copper coins from places that they didn't belong in. Yuki was just about ready to hit the hay but she had Gamma shift on the Bridge so she had settle for a shower. She undressed and hopped in. Letting the water track down her skin; she let the memories fill her mind's eye.

 _Wench stared at the door in front of her. Her 'dorm mate' had just tossed what little belongings the little thirteen year old had out the dorm door and had told her not to come back and if she did, she would regret it. Wench didn't notice the weather turn for the worse until it was too late. She jumped when the first drop hit her flesh. Wench quickly grabbed the little she had and bolted for the nearest cover._

 _She cowered under the bridge that was on campus grounds; afraid that if her ex-dorm mates friends might come after her. Wench shot up when she heard two voices, "Come on Bones! We have to get inside before it's too late!"_

 _"_ _I'm coming Jim! You damn idiot!"_

 _A pair of feet ran by her hiding place and one pair stopped._

 _"_ _Jim! Dammit man! Why did you stop?!"_

 _"_ _I think there is a person under that bridge!"_

 _The feet came back. Wench shrank even further into her hiding spot. The people outside crouched down and she saw two people. One had brown eyes and hair with tan skin while the other had corn blonde hair and eyes as blue as morning glories. They were both wearing cadet uniforms that were damp from the rain._

 _"_ _Hey sweetheart, we won't hurt you," Brown said as he reached for her. Wench forced herself deeper into the little crevice that she had hid in, "Ack! No! Wait, come here darling!"_

 _Blonde chuckled and sat down on the wet ground; ignoring the fact that his ass was getting soaked. Brown snorted but then yelped as he was dragged down by Blonde. Wench watched the two men with wide, fear-filled eyes. She didn't know what these men wanted but she feared that this wouldn't end well._

 _"_ _Hey gorgeous, what's your name?" Wench watched the men, waiting for something to happen. Blonde reached in and tried to touch her tail. Wench yanked her tail under her body and curled in further. Blonde froze and looked into her eyes._

 _"_ _Bones go back to the dorm and get a bath drawn; warm water; as well as some chocolate pudding and make the couch bed. Get that heater pad; put it in between the sheets and turn it on medium."_

 _"_ _Not without her Jim."_

 _"_ _Bones."_

 _"_ _Jim."_

 _They glared at each other for a few seconds and Brown stubbornly parked himself back into his spot. Blonde chuckled and turned back to Wench._

 _"_ _Bones and I won't hurt you, we promise. You look like you need a place to stay and we would be happy to provide you a place," He extended his hand towards her but came no closer, "So what do ya say? Wanna come home?"_

 _Wench stared at the hand in shock and slowly reached out. Pausing for a second, she gently placed her hand in his and let Blonde pull her out. Brown reached into the crevice and pulled her little satchel out._

 _"_ _I'll head home now Jim," Brown said._

 _"_ _Wench," Both men zoomed in on the girl that they had pulled out of the underbelly of the bridge "My name is Wench."_

 _Jim's eyes were blown wide and Bones was apprehensive; he had never seen Jim look so angry. That look made the girl flinch and shrink into herself. Jim wiped the angry look off his face and smiled at the girl._

 _"_ _A pretty thing like you needs a better name than that! We'll brainstorm a better one once we get home ok?"_

 _The girl nodded and huddled into Jim, shivering as the cold San Francisco air washed over her soaked flesh. Jim and Bones looked worried at the girl and they rushed home in a brisk walk, careful not to startle the poor creature._

 _They arrived at the co-ed dorm that they lived in and hurried her in; wanting nothing more than to get her warm. Bones opened the door to their dorm and raced into the bathroom to fill the tub. Jim settled the girl on a chair in the kitchen and finally got a good look at her._

 _Her hair was damp but it was a bright blonde-he was willing to bet arctic blonde when dry- and her skin was a pale version of peaches and cream. Her eyes were a glassy ice blue but Jim could see spots of both jade green and pastel violet. The most amazing feature however was the pair of pure white ears perched on her head and a matching tail that swung in an agitated manner. Her cadet uniform was ripped and her hands and knees were scrapped up good, crimson blood dripping from clenched fists._

 _"_ _Jim, the bath is ready, I even put a bathing suit in there in case she wants it," Bones called from the living room, "I'm going to make the sofa bed and place the heater pad on."_

 _"_ _Good job Bones, make sure that pad is set on medium," Jim replied as he turned back to the girl, "Now gorgeous, I'm going to help you to the bathroom and I am going to let you take a bath. Use whatever cleaning products you want and come back out when you are ready. Ok?"_

 _The girl nodded and Jim gently pulled her up. Ignoring her scraps and cuts for now, Jim gently tugged her to the steamed up bathroom and stepped out as soon as she was inside._

 _"_ _That poor girl, not having a name must be hard," Bones said as he pulled powdered pudding out of the cupboard and milk out of the fridge; Jim nodded as he dropped into a chair. They heard splashing; Jim jumped up and bolted into the bathroom. All he saw was hands, tail and feet in the air. Jim quickly rescued the girl from the tub, thankful that she had put on the bathing suit before getting in._

 _"_ _Easy girl! Do you want help? Because there is no shame in asking," Jim said with a smile. The girl blushed and shook her head._

 _"_ _Ya sure? I could help clean you off," She nodded and Jim left. Bones looked up from where he was making the pudding._

 _"_ _What happened in there?"_

 _"_ _The poor dear fell in the tub. It was like she had never seen a bathtub before. We don't even know her past so that could be entirely possible. She also looked like she never had a bath in her life. The amount of grease in her hair also proves my theory. I think she might have been a slave before joining Starfleet. I also think that she was treated poorly by her room-mate but then again, this is all theory."_

 _Bones looked startled and then he smiled._

 _"_ _We're taking her in, aren't we? You were always a sucker for the strays."_

 _Jim grinned at that. A loud racket came out of the bathroom and Jim bolted back in. He ran into the room to see the girl had turned on the blow-dryer that he kept after Bones had given it as a gag gift. Jim snatched it away and clicked it off. He snorted at the look she had and how fluffy her hair had turned. She looked at him and ducked her head down._

 _"_ _Girlie, I don't even know how you found that because I hid that thing but you can have it," Jim laughed out. She smiled at him and looked down again. Jim took the towel that had been dropped in the blow-dryer caused chaos and rubbed her hair. She jumped and flinched at the affection that was displayed. Jim looked sad but he removed his hand and the towel from her head. Jim reached out of the bathroom and handed her a pair of sweat pants and a baggy sweater that Bones wisely placed outside the door._

 _"_ _Come on, Bones has pudding and who doesn't like pudding?" Jim asked as he turned his back so she could get dressed. A rustle of cloth indicated that she was changing. Jim slipped out and waited behind the closed door for a few minutes. The door opened behind him and Jim turned around; she looked kinda cute, swamped in Bones's track pants and Jim's old sweater. Jim guided her to the table and waited for a few minutes. Bones came out with a giant bowl of pudding and he set it down and pulled three spoons from his pocket._

 _Jim grinned at Bones, "Thanks Bones! I love it when you make pudding," Bones snorted at Jim's antics and turned a soft grin at the girl that was eyeing the pudding. Jim however unintentionally proved that the chocolaty treat was in fact safe by scooping up a giant spoonful and stuffing it in his mouth. Bones snickered at the mess that Jim had made on his face and he knew that the girl was smiling._

 _They ate in silence for a few minutes until Jim looked at the girl with his eyes bright. Bones knew that look; that was an idea look. The look that spelled trouble for any idiot that deserved it._

 _"_ _I know what to call you! Your new name is Yuki." Jim stated. The girl looked shocked and Bones decided to intervene.  
"Yuki? What the hell does that mean?!" Bones snapped at Jim._

 _"_ _It means 'snow' in Japanese. And while we are on that train of thought; we could have our mother's names in it."_

 _"_ _So her new name is Yuki Georgia Winona?"_

 _"_ _No! Yuki Winona Georgia!"_

 _"_ _What about a last name you idiot?"_

 _Jim thought about it for a few and then turned to smile at her, "We could use Akeru when we don't want anyone to know about you but your full name is Yuki Winona-Georgia Akeru McCoy-Kirk."_

 _The newly named Yuki stared at them with tears coursing down her cheeks. Bones glared at Jim playfully, "Great you idiot; you broke her!"_

 _"_ _I did no such thing!"_

 _"_ _Did too!"_

 _Yuki watched them fight and started to laugh with tears falling down her cheeks, "Thank you! Thank you!"_

An alarm went off and Yuki stumbled out of the bathroom and slipped on a clean new uniform. Well, time for work. The Bridge can't run itself, ya know. She was half way to the door when a cough shook her body; followed by an electric shock that felt like a tidal wave. Once she stopped silently screaming, she stood back up-when did she fall? - And wiped the dirt off of her uniform. She hurried to the lift and leaned against the wall once the door was closed.

She was sick and with this collar, she was going to be in a world of hurt.

 ** _Wildcat: I'm driving someone mad with the cliffhangers. I own nothing!_**


	4. Chapter 4

Jim was on the bridge for Gamma shift today and he was feeling great. He had plenty of sleep and he had no angry Vulcans or doctors fluttering around but he missed Alpha crew.

He's planning on doing the Alpha shift too but Spock didn't need to know that.

Jim hummed as he waited for Ensign Akeru to get in. She was now two minutes late and Spock had said that she was never late.

A minute later, the ensign in question stumbled in and Jim was about to make a joke about a late shift when he got a good look at her face.

Her face was pale except around the cheeks; which were the unhealthiest shade of red that Jim had ever seen. Her eyes were glassy and her ears and tail drooped. Akeru had shivers running up and down her body; her fingers were trembling as she typed in the access code.

Captain's diagnosis: Sick with a nasty cold.

Action needed: Yes!

"Ensign Akeru, CMO McCoy just messaged me saying that you're to report in for your physical," Jim said in a soft voice. Akeru's head shot up and she looked at Jim like he said that he was going to murder her brother; terrified. Akeru stiffly nodded and logged off. A spare navigator bolted over to the seat as she left; but didn't log on until a Clorox toilette was rubbed all over the station. Luckily, Ensign Akeru wasn't paying attention or else something could have happened.

Jim typed a quick message to Bones.

 _To: Bones_

 _Subject: Ensign Akeru_

 _Hey Bones! I just sent Akeru down. She has a nasty cold and I used the excuse that she was to report in for her physical to send her down. Can you play along and take care of her? The poor thing looked like she was dying._

 _Thanks man!_

 _Jim_

Jim waited for a minute and then a 'ding' went off on his PADD.

 _To: The knuckle-head known as the Captain_

 _Subject: Ensign Akeru_

 _You used the physical as an excuse to send a sick Ensign down? You idiot! But I'll play along. Thanks for the heads up though._

 _Signed_

 _Bones_

Jim turned his attention back to the Bridge for a half hour when another 'ding' went off on his PADD.

 _To: Jim_

 _Subject: Runaway Ensign!_

 _Jim! That damn ensign didn't show up! Where is she?!_

 _Too pissed to talk_

 _Bones_

Jim typed in a quick message.

 _To: Bones_

 _Subject: Runaway Ensign!_

 _What?! I just sent her down like a half hour ago! I'll start a search! Get Spock, Nyota, Scotty, and a first aid kit and meet me at the closet Jefferies Tubes to the bridge. I'll get Pasha and Hikaru._

 _Worried_

 _Jim_

"Nixon, you have the Conn," Jim said as he rushed out of the Bridge and entered the lift.

Jim pulled his comm out of his pocket and turned it on.

"Chekov, I need your help. Ensign Akeru is missing."

Yuki was in a small corner of the Jefferies Tubes by Engineering, shivering despite the fact that this little corner of the tubes was by the heaters. She refused to go to sickbay when she was perfectly fine.

Yuki wasn't delirious... much.

She just wanted a place where she could scream without disturbing anyone. Yuki wasn't about to risk the safety of Jim and Bones because she was as sick as a dog. Komack had threatened to hurt them if they ever found out about the collar and Yuki had resolved to protect them, even from herself.

Yuki felt her eyes grow heavy and her body seemed determined to shut down on her even though a search party would most likely be after her by now. She tried to get up and make her body move to safety, another location-anywhere that she couldn't be found and put Bones and Jim in danger! - But it gave out before she could get two feet from her hiding spot.

She fell asleep, trapped within her own feverish nightmares.

Spock paced at the entrance to the Jefferies tube by the Bridge while Uhara, Scott and McCoy sat down or fiddled with things; worried about the condition of Ensign Akeru. She had become a valued member of the Science department-much to Yeoman Fraserson's displeasure- and she had also proven to be as- if not more- curious as Chekov. Even if she was working on a project of her own, Akeru would always put it down if another scientist needed any help and she typed many logical-mostly- questions. The best example of that is when the recently recovered Yeoman Ronan Gin had asked for help with an experiment involving his bioluminescent body paint; she had dropped everything and helped.

She still glowed when the lights were turned off.

It amused everyone to no end.

She always waved good morning and smiled at everyone. Even Fraserson was treated to a grin and a wave.

Akeru also proved to be intelligent and kind. When those plants were attacking the level by spitting copper coins-with the coconut oil providing extra speed- at the scientists in rapid succession, she had risked injury so she could put a stop to them and she did it without saying a word. Akeru had gone up to the plants and had slapped their mouths before they could fire at her. She had glared them into submission and surprisingly enough, they had obeyed her. She then locked them up in a clear glass container designed for small dangerous creatures and went to help the others clean up the destroyed level.

She had showed no signs of being ill during that... disaster but she seemed to be just like the Captain in regards to many things, including personal health. Spock had seen Ensign Sugar pull her away from her station many times just to eat and Spock had also seen Chekov hand her over to Ensign Park when she had fallen asleep at her navigation station countless times. She had even volunteered when Chekov was sick last week to stay for Alpha shift. Jim had given her the rest of the day off because she had been up for all three shifts.

That didn't stop her from coming to work on Beta shift.

Both Ensign and Yeoman Gin had herded her to level F and had even tucked her in; and stayed with her until she fell asleep if the story was true.

She could have faked being well so she could work.

"Spock!"  
Spock stopped his frantic pacing and turned to the Captain; who had brought Ensign Chekov and Lieutenant-Commander Sulu with him. Those three and CEO Scott knew those tubes very well.

"Captain, how are we going to search the Jefferies Tubes?" Nyota asked. Jim looked at Nyota and started to mutter to himself. He seemed to reach a satisfactory answer when he started to point at everyone.

"Ok, only four of us know these tunnels like the back of our hands and three don't. Scotty, you and I have Bones. Sulu and Chekov, you have Uhara. Have your communicators at all times and remember, Ensign Akeru is sick and delusional so she most likely fled because her overheated mind told her that sickbay is not safe. The goal here is to safely get her out; not to hurt her. Spock," Spock looked at the Captain, "I know this might be difficult but she won't respond to normal logic so I want you at the Bridge. I want you to monitor our progress on the PADD and keep the ship running. I want you to be ready to help us at a moment's notice. Can you do that Spock?"

Spock must have looked apprehensive because that Captains face softened, "I know you are worried about her but I need you to keep this ship going while we search for her. We will comm you to let you know that she is safe as soon as we find her, Ok?"

Spock snapped to attention and so did the rest of the tiny search party, "Aye sir!"  
"Bones, did you record how long she has been missing?"

CMO McCoy looked at the Captain with an angry look on his face, "Of course I did Jim. She had been missing for an hour now."

The Captain nodded at the CMO and turned towards the Jefferies Tubes with a determined look in his eyes.

"Let's bring her home guys."

Jim was crawling through the tubes with the others behind him. Spock had gone back to the Bridge and he was monitoring their progress through the comms. Bones was behind him and Scotty behind Bones. Chekov was next and then it was Nyota and Sulu brought up the rear. They soon reached a fork. One path went left towards Engineering and one went right towards Science.

"Chekov, you are going to take your group right and I am going to take my group left. Bones can you give them a hypo full of sedatives in case they find her first?" Jim asked.

Bones grunted and a 'click' confirmed that he had opened the first aid kit. Jim heard some rustling and then it was quiet.

"Here ya go Uhara. Ya do know how to use one of these; right?"

"Yes Doctor McCoy. I stab her with it in either the thigh or the neck and wait three seconds than pull it out."

Jim glanced back at the group, "Ok, are we good?" The group nodded, "Alright, best of luck to you guys. Comm us and Spock if you happen to find her first."

Jim started to crawl into the left tube with Bones and Scotty following him. They heard scuffling in the right tube and the tiny group continued to crawl.

"Bones, I need you to be ready. Ensign Akeru could have gotten worse while she was in here. I don't want to take chances here."

"Yes Jim."

"Cap'n, will the wee lass get in any trouble?" Scotty asked.

Jim pondered on it for a few seconds.

"You're not seriously considering punishing a delusional Ensign, Jim?!" Bones yelled.

"No guys, I'm not going to punish her and neither is Spock. The poor girl is sick and her mind told her that Sickbay was unsafe for her but I am very worried. If Akeru's illness is left unchecked for much longer, she could end up even worse."

They continued crawling in silence for a few minutes and then a scream ripped through the air. Jim, Bones and Scotty scrambled through the tunnels until they reach a small chamber by the heaters.

Ensign Akeru was in the corner closest to the heat but she was clearly shivering. The skin around her cheeks had become even redder and her clothes stuck to her sweaty skin. Tears fell from her eyes onto her cheeks and they could see that Akeru was trying to hold back a cough. The cough finally came out and then she screamed again. Her body bucked from the pain and Jim quickly launched himself at her; pinning her down to prevent Akeru from hurting herself.

"Guys! A little help here!" Jim hollered as Akeru bucked again. Bones threw open the first aid kit while Scotty jumped her legs; allowing Jim to grab her torso.

They bounced and floundered around for a few seconds before Bones managed to get a hypo injected into her hip. Akeru stopped floundering around but they could see that she was in the throes of a vicious nightmare.

"Scotty, contact the others. Bones; call Spock and let her know that we have her and call a gurney to Engineering. I know an exit from the Tubes near here. As soon as they get into position, we'll move her."

"Aye sir!" Came from both men as they quickly set out to do their assigned tasks. Jim sat down and pulled Akeru into his lap and started to stroke her hair. He pressed a kiss to her temple and froze.

Her forehead was too hot.

"Bones! Tell me you have a cold compress in that miracle bag of yours!" Jim shouted. Bones dug through it as he gave directions to the medical team headed their way. A compress was tossed Jim's direction. Jim caught it and quickly placed it on her forehead.

"Hang on baby girl; help is on the way," Jim whispered to the feverish girl as she shivered against his warm flesh.

"Captain!"

Jim looked up and saw Chekov, Sulu and Uhara bolting over. As soon as Chekov saw Akeru, he darted over to Jim's side. Chekov started to run fingers through her hair and mutter words in Russian.

"Sulu, go the nearest exit and wait for the medical team. Take Scotty and Uhara with you," Jim ordered. Sulu looked like he was at war with himself but he nodded.

"Aye Captain! Uhara, Scotty, come on!" Sulu called as they rushed down the tunnel. Bones came over to Jim and waved a tricorder over Akeru.

The results were not good.

"That cold has become pneumonia. She needs medical attention now!"

A whimper escaped from her lips and it evolved into a scream. Jim pulled her close and hugged her as she bucked.

"Sveez Hearz!"

Sulu's voice echoed from the tunnel, "Captain! The medical team is here!"

Jim manoeuvred his arms under her legs and shoulders; picking her up. Chekov, Bones and Jim rushed down the tunnel; careful not to jostle her too much. An open hatch was waiting for them. Chekov slipped out first, bouncing off of the gurney. Bones went second, landing firmly and ready to help.

"Bones, I'm going to land on the stretcher. As soon as I'm on it, take off and get us to Sickbay," Jim called down.

Bones called back, "Dammit Jim! I'm a doctor not a chauffeur!"

Jim snorted and fell out of the exit. He landed on the gurney and the medical team took off. Jim felt the air whip around them as they raced down the halls. They managed to make it to Sickbay in under a minute. Akeru started to thrash around as they reached it, "Shh, sweetie it's ok. Bones will make you better. He's the best. Shh," Jim soothed as they reached the Intensive Care section. Jim placed her on the bio-bed and stepped back. The rush of nurses nearly sent Jim into the wall.

Akeru was still thrashing around.

Jim shoved his way through the thong of nurses and snatched Akeru's hand in his own.

Two whispered words came from her as she stopped flailing and her heart flat-lined.

"Aniki. Onii-kun."

 ** _Wildcat: Is it safe to come out? *peeks out of under rock* I'm sorry about the cliffhangers! I own nothing! *Retreats back inside*_**


	5. Chapter 5

**Yuki was lost. Colours swirled around her; a violent blizzard of grays, blues, golds and reds. Nothing made sense. It was too hot! Too cold! Pain filled her body; molten lava and liquid ice determined to eat her alive.**

 **Yuki was tired, oh so tired.**

 **Light filled her vision and the pain was gone. Yuki looked around; she was in a field of wheat wearing a white dress.**

 **Jim's hair was the colour of wheat when wet.**

 **She could see three people coming towards her and Yuki moved to meet them. Two were both elderly but the woman had Onii-kun's eyes while the man had Onii-kun's hair. The second man looked like Aniki but his dry hair matched the wheat.**

 **"** **Who are you?" Yuki asked. The elderly couple smiled at her while the man chuckled with amusement.**

 **"** **Dear, we are Bones parents Georgia and Tom; this strapping young man is George, Jim's father. You are at deaths door. You have two choices, one come with us into the light or walk back into the darkness and go back to the living," The woman said. Yuki froze at the words; she was dead? She was dead but she had a chance to go home?**

 **The two men and one woman watched as Yuki started to cry.**

 **"** **I want to go home, to Aniki and Onii-kun. To Jim and to Bones."**

 **"** **Are they the only ones? What about Pavel and Hikaru? Huckleberry, Ronan and Minette? T'salk and Jackson? What about Spock?" George asked softly. They watched as she nodded her head violently; slightly afraid that she would break her neck at the speed she was going at.**

 **Yuki continued to sob as she fell to her knees, "I want to go back to them all!"**

 **Georgia smiled at Yuki and helped her up, "Well then you have to fight. Fight the pneumonia and fight Komack. Fight for your friends and fight for your family."**

 **George wiped the dirt off the dress and whirled Yuki back the way she came from and said, "Go on, they are waiting for you."**

 **Yuki nodded and walked for a few minutes.**

 **"** **By the way, welcome to the Family!"**

 **Yuki turned back to them and waved goodbye. She then walked back into the darkness.**

Jim watched as Akeru flat-lined on the bio-bed. He stared numbly from the bed he sat on as Bones and the nurses raced to save her. He saw how still the normally vibrant ensign had become still and _he_ _didn't like it_. He never noticed the rest of level F flooding the area or Chekov and Sulu had sat on either side of him, rubbing his back. He never saw Sugar and the Gin twins hugging each other; never seen Park, Scotty and L'nona silently crying or Spock watching the whole disaster unfold in front of him while holding Uhara. All Jim could do was daze at the unseeable body on the bed and for some reason, Jim wanted to howl to the sky and deny that the sweet little creature was really gone.

"Yes! Doctor, I have a pulse!" Jim zoomed in on the blonde hair, violet eyed nurse that had called those blessed words. Jim jumped at him and hugged the nurse. He vaguely noticed that more people were hugging the nurse as well.

"Guys! She is not out of the woods and I need Nurse Williams to help me keep her alive so can I have him back?!" Bones snapped at the huddle. Besides, he was going to hug Nurse Williams later. Jim and the others released the poor nurse who rushed back to the barely alive ensign.

 **Pain, that was all she felt. Liquid ice and fire raced through her veins and it took all of her little strength to not scream. Yuki felt the electric collar activate, sending ripples of molten pain through her body. This would probably be the only time Yuki would ever be thankful for that thrice damned collar. Her body was too hot, too cold and she could do nothing about it.**

"Someone go get all the cold compresses! We have to bring her temperature down before we can do anything!"

 **Yuki was so tired; she wanted nothing more than to curl up beside Jim and sleep.**

"Oh no you don't darling! We are not losing you a second time!"

 **Lose her a second time? Did she get lost already?**

"Come on! You can do it! You are a strong girl that clearly doesn't know the meaning of giving up and no-win scenarios! So don't you dare give in to this you damn stubborn fox!"

 **Give in? To what? Was she sick or something?**

"Ensign, you pull through this and I will make chocolate pudding. A big bowl just for you."

"Jim, did you just try to bribe a sick patient with pudding?!"

 **She loved pudding! Aniki and Onii-kun made it all the time!**

"Bribery of an ill patient is not logical Captain. But I can see how it might be comforting for Ensign Akeru to hear our voices."

"Spock… be quiet."

"Everyone, out! We need room to work and having all of the Bridge and half of level F hovering is not helping! Shoo! Shoo you nuts! I'll let you know as soon you she is safe! OUT!"

 **Wait was that Aniki and Onii-kun? She wanted them so badly!**

"Uhh... Bones? She won't let me go."

 **No! Please don't leave her in the dark!**

"It's ok Ensign, I won't leave. I promise. I will be here when you get out but I need to leave right now so Bones can help you. I will be there when you wake."

 **... Ok Aniki. You never break your promises by choice. She trusted him.**

"Doc, her temperature has gone down!"

"Give a dose of antibiotics and a dose of sedatives to help her sleep."

 **A gentle prick against her neck and Yuki knew no more.**

Jim watched Chekov pacing; actually he was sure that everyone was watching the eighteen year old pace.

"Ensign Chekov, please refrain from pacing because it will not make CMO McCoy work any faster," Spock said in a clearly snappish tone. Chekov stopped and glared at the First Officer. Jim was ready to intervene when Ensign Sugar did it for him.

"I mean no disrespect but all of us are worried about Yuki. Snapping at each other or wearing a damn hole into the carpet will solve nothing. We didn't realise that she would hide the fact that she was sick and we didn't know that it would get so bad that her body would go like that," Sugar took a shaky breath that showed how scared he really was, "Does anyone know how she got so sick anyways?"

Everyone started to think and Chekov started to pale. Jim looked Chekov, a little worried that he would faint.

"I knov, vhen I goz sick lasz veek vith zhe cold. I musz hawe passed iz on zo her by accidenz. God, I am such an idioz!" Chekov cried out.

Jim was ready to move in case Chekov did anything-or fainted- but this time Spock interceded, "Illnesses are passed in many different ways and I think that she could have gotten it from anyone. Yeomen Fraserson and Tikkasala also had the cold and they were the closest to her for the longest amount of time. So it is only logical that they were the ones that passed the illness to her. You are not to blame."

Chekov deflated and signed. He sank down beside Sulu and rested his head on his boyfriends shoulder. Sulu rubbed the back of Chekov's hand with his fingers. Jim turned his attention back to the doors.

The doors opened with a 'whoosh' an hour later. Bones stumbled out of the room, clearly exhausted. He looked up to see every pair of eyes in the room looking at him. Bones smiled softly, "So do you want the good news or the bad news first?"

Jim scowled at Bones, who chuckled, "Bad news it is then. Ensign Akeru will be stuck in Sickbay for a couple of weeks; a quarter of that time will be spent awake. The rest of the time she would most likely be sleeping," Everyone glared at Bones, "The good news is that she is alive. She is very weak but very much alive. We discovered that her immune system is just as shoddy as Jim's; that is why a normal cold evolved into pneumonia so quickly. But she should be back on active duty within three weeks, give or take. If she is anything else like Jim however, it could take longer."

Everyone sagged in relief and Spock turned to Jim, "Captain, I believe you promised the ensign pudding if she pulled through. I suggest that you get started on making it so you have enough for that big bowl you said she would have all to herself."

Jim chuckled at the sassy Vulcan- and everyone's shocked expression- and stood up, "I also promised that I would be there when she wakes up," He turned to Bones, "When will the ensign wake up Bones?"

"A couple of days; we had fill her to the gills with sedative and painkillers so she will be sleeping it off for the next couple of days," Bones replied.

"Everyone go get some sleep, we have work in the morning and Gamma shift will kill us if we are late. See you all in the morning," Jim said as he turned to the others. Spock nodded and left first, taking Uhara with him. Park, L'nona and Scotty were next, discussing on how it was a good idea to have a drink this late at night and Sugar and the Gin twins followed; telling them that they were idiots and it was a stupid idea to have a drink this late. Sulu led Chekov away after Chekov extracted a promise from McCoy that he will comm them if something changes.

Bones turned back to Jim who had plopped his ass in a chair besides the sleeping- and out of that sweaty uniform- ensign and he had a PADD with him.

"Jim, what are ya doing?"

"Sitting at her bedside Bones."

"Jim."

"What?"

They glared at each other for a couple of seconds and then Bones sighed in defeat, "Fine, but if you cause her any distress, I will throw you out faster than warp 8."

Bones started to walk away when Jim called back, "Hey Bones do get the feeling that we know Akeru better than we realize? Like we should know everything about her but we can't remember?" Bones looked over Jim with a critical eye for a minute and then sighs.

"No Jim, you're not the only one. I feel like I have known her for years but she only joined us two weeks ago. I get this _need_ to keep her safe that is stronger than when I get it with the others. The only other person that gets the same reaction out of me is you Jim."

"You know Bones; we could ask Spock about it. If we are the only ones that feel like this than there is probably a memory block on us or something," Jim pointed out

"Kid, I forget that you are a certified genius. It scares me sometimes."

"I try."

A faint whimper caught their attention and they turned to see Akeru in the midst of a nightmare.

 ** _Wildcat: There! She's alive! Don't kill me! Her past will be explained in more detail in the next chapter so be kind! I own nothing!_**

 ** _Bones: Wildcat! Get over here so I can hypo your ass!_**

 ** _Wildcat: Got to go!_**


	6. Chapter 6

**_"_** ** _Ah, ah, ah boys; don't make promises you can't keep."_**

 ** _Jim, Bones and Yuki whirled around to see Admiral Komack standing there with roughly five burly men in black suits. Each of the men was armed with an electric tazer and an air-powered tranquilizer gun. Jim and Bones stood up first, pulling Yuki up and behind them. Jim loosened his obi slightly to give him more room for his legs to kick in case he needed to defend the others. Bones pulled a pair of hypos out of... somewhere... and turned them on. Yuki adapted a fighting pose that's used by small fighters._**

 ** _"_** ** _Komack, I told you to leave us alone. We are not getting rid of Yuki and we are not becoming your task force so just go," Jim snarled at Komack. The men at Komacks side raised the guns and aimed it at the trio._**

 ** _"_** ** _Easy boys, these fine...people...," Komack sneered, "And I will be having a chat. No need to fire."_**

 ** _"_** ** _We were just leaving," Bones snapped and Jim nodded. Jim started to pull Yuki along and Bones brought up the rear. Komack raised his right hand and flicked the fingers. The tranquilizer guns were aimed at the center of their chest. Jim froze and Bones looked comprehensive. Yuki glared at Komack, who just chuckled._**

 ** _"_** ** _Your pet Kitsurian doesn't like me. Will it bite me if I get too close?" Komack teased as he approached. Yuki bared her teeth at him and nipped at Komacks fingers when he tried to pet her hair. Komack drew his fingers back in shock as Bones chortled and Jim let out a bark of a laugh._**

 ** _"_** ** _Yuki doesn't like you at all. She's normally a sweet little thing but she will nip those she doesn't like," Jim snarked as Yuki scowled at Komack, who had backed up behind the wall of muscle._**

 ** _"_** ** _Shoot them," Komack snarled at the men; the trio paling as the tranquilizer guns went off._**

 ** _Jim went down first, taking three of the five darts square in the chest. Bones was next, two darts lodged in his arm but as the men were reloading, Yuki struck._**

 ** _Yuki flew at the men in a blizzard of fur, claws teeth and kimono. She scratched and bit the men, aiming to make lasting marks. Yuki spat out blood as she flew to her next victim._**

 **** ** _The blood wasn't hers._**

 ** _Two of the men had managed to reload in the Kitsurian inflicted mayhem. Two darts hit Yuki in the back. She snarled and launched herself at the men that had shot her. Scratching them into a bloody mess, she launched herself at Komack; resolute about delivering vengeance to the asshole that dared attacked her family. Three more darts hit Yuki in the backside and she fell before she could reach him. Yuki however was still conscious enough to drag herself to Bones and Jim and she made just as a sixth dart dug itself into the back and Yuki lost conscious._**

 ** _Yuki slowly regained consciousness but kept her eyes closed to keep anyone from figuring out she was awake._**

 ** _"_** ** _Is the drug ready? I paid you good money for this drug."_**

 ** _"_** ** _Yes sir but remember there are only two doses so pick your target carefully. Whoever isn't drugged needs to be controlled so they don't trigger a callback. What this drug will do is make the victims forget one person of the administrators choosing. You will have to find a way to control the third person but the method is up to you sir."_**

 ** _"_** ** _Excellent. I have just the thing for the controlling part."_**

 ** _Yuki froze as a pair of feet approached with a 'click clack'._**

 ** _"_** ** _I know that you are wide awake trash; Kirk and McCoy will be waking up any minute."_**

 ** _Yuki opened her eyes and realized that she was in fact strapped to a table and that table was facing up. Komack leaned over her with a sneer. Yuki snarled and started to thrash around. Komack snapped back. Once it was determined that she couldn't get out, Komack came closer._**

 ** _"_** ** _It's surprising that a half-breed such as yourself could withstand the near fatal dosage of tranquilizer you had racing through your veins. That dosage would have surely killed a man but it would have made one of your filthy kind merely sick. I have a surprise for you, McCoy and Kirk; the kind that they will forget and that you will always remember," Komack cackled. A groan from one of the tables drew Komacks attention, "Ah Kirk, you're awake. Now we have to wait for McCoy."_**

 ** _Not even a second later, a second groan split the air and then the curses started. Komack chuckled; drawing Bones's attention and both Yuki and Jim blushed at the very colourful and impressive swear words that Bones unleashed at Komack. Komack hit a switch and the tables moved themselves so that they were facing each other. Yuki could clearly see a table with two briefcases sitting on it ominously._**

 ** _"_** ** _Ah ah ah, not nice language there Mr. McCoy and here I thought that Southern gentlemen were civil," Komack sneered at McCoy, who just spat a curse back in his face._**

 ** _"_** ** _What do you plan on doing Komack?! You do realize that once Starfleet Academy realise that three of their top students is missing, they will hunt you down? You will lose your Admiralty!" Jim hollered as Komack opened the first case and picked up two vials. He filled a hypo with one vial and moved towards Bones, watching with amusement as Bones started to struggle._**

 ** _"_** ** _I have a simple plan Kirk. I make you and McCoy forget about the filthy half-breed and I stick a shock collar on your little pet so it may never say a word to you again. Uncomplicated and elegant. You will forget every single last memory involving your little pet. Don't worry though; you and McCoy will remember each other. I am a nice man however so I will let you say your goodbyes to your pet," Komack mocked as he pressed the hypo to Bones's neck._**

 ** _Bones turned to Yuki and smiled softly as tears fell down his cheek, "Yuki, kick this son of a bitch's ass for us ok? Take your meds and eat properly. Get plenty of damn sleep and don't let anyone pressure you into doing anything. Do as best as you can and then some in your classes and don't leave your weapons on the floor and table. You are a McCoy and a Kirk; by no means do you disregard that. Use your manners and act like a lady until you need to act like that lovable little Kirky bitch that Jim and I both know you are. Most of all Yuki; I love you little sis, I love you and never forget that," Yuki nodded and grinned back at Bones; tears falling down her own cheek, "Yes Bones. I love you too Onii-kun, I love you too."_**

 ** _Bones beamed at her and Komack sneered at the exchanged sentiments, "Times up McCoy," and the glittering hypo was plunged into Bones neck._**

 ** _"_** ** _Onii-kun!"_**

 ** _"_** ** _Bones!"_**

 ** _Bones maintained eye contact with Jim and Yuki until his warm chocolate brown eyes rolled into his skull and his head dropped to his chest. Yuki had tears in her eyes but she knew that the Bones that she loved won't be coming back so Yuki quickly directed her attention to Jim._**

 ** _Jim gave her that signature Kirk grin and he started to talk as Komack prepared the second vial, "Yuki, live as freely as you want and never let assholes tell you what to do. Be careful when you go drinking and don't let anyone grope your ass without your permission. Continue to be you and live, love and laugh like you want too. Totally leave your weapons on the floor and table but rock your classes with Kirk style. Bones is right; you are a McCoy and a Kirk and that gives an advantage over the others. Use the lessons Bones and I have taught you and knock the world's socks off. Be that Kirky bitch when you need to and be that McCoy lady when you want to. Above all else Yuki, I love you so much, I love you so much baby girl. You are the best little sis a guy could have and I am proud to call you a McCoy-Kirk. Be a dear and kick Komacks ass for us. Remind him of the power of the McCoy-Kirks and make us remember you. I love you."_**

 ** _Komack walked over and stabbed Jim with the glistening hypo._**

 ** _"_** ** _Jim! Aniki!"_**

 ** _Jim stared Yuki in the eyes and smiled at her for one last time. Jim's morning glory blue eyes closed and his head fell, his chin touching his chest._**

 ** _Yuki screamed and shouted; unleashing the most foul of Georgian and Iowaian swear words at Komack. Komack went back to the table and opened the second case. Yuki could plainly see a circular collar of unidentified, undecorated metal. Yuki watched Komack stalk towards her with a maniacal gleam in his eyes and the collar in hand._**

 ** _She tried to struggle but Komack was in her face and the collar was positioned threateningly against her neck, "You try and make contact with them, they get hurt. You tell anyone about the collar, they get hurt. You try to speak to anyone, you get hurt. See the pattern here? Also this collar will attach itself to your spine; removing it without the safe-word would be fatal. Any reminder of you had been removed from your dorm into a singles dorm three buildings over. Do you want the kimonos?" Yuki glared at Komack but nodded, "Also the process of putting on the collar is extremely painful. Please, don't hold back your screams."_**

 ** _Komack snapped the collar shut._**

 ** _Yuki screamed._**

Jim and Bones were startled when Akeru's whimper had turned into a scream but they both leapt into action. Jim pinned her down as Bones grabbed another sedative. Bones quickly jabbed it into her neck and was troubled when the needle seemed to bounce off her neck.

"Bones, whatcha doing?! Give her the hypo! Now!" Jim yelped as he was thrown around by the deceptively strong Akeru.

"The damn thing bounced off her neck! Hold an arm still so I can get her!" Bones yelled as Jim struggled with her for a few minutes. Finally, Jim managed to pin an arm down and Bones injected the needle into her arm.

Ensign Akeru stopped flopping around and settled again. Bones did a quick check to make sure she didn't hurt herself and gave Jim a look over because damn that girl can pack a punch! Jim had a lovely shiner right in the left eye and his right cheek had a gorgeous bruise forming. Bones took a dermal regenerator to Jim's cheek and eye; trying- and failing- to keep a chuckle in. Once the bruises and black eye was gone, Jim looked at the sleeping ensign.

"Bones, why couldn't you get the hypo in the neck?" Jim asked as Bones waved a tricorder over Akeru's neck. A ping sounded and Bones pulled the collar of the pajamas down. Nestled tightly against her neck was a plain steel collar that had peach paint running down it. It was form-fitting to the point that it bit into her flesh and Bones could see that the skin around the collar was both irritated and infected. Jim peeked over Bones shoulder and gasped in shock at the collar and how infected her neck was.

"Bones... can you fix that? You can fix that right? Of course you can fix that!" Jim panicked. Bones quickly jabbed Jim in the ass with a relaxant before the man could work himself into a panic attack. Jim slumped into a chair with a glazed look in his eyes. Bones sighed in relief of the little silence that was given to him.

"Williams! I need some more antibiotics and a bio-metric scanner. I think I figured how she got and why she is still sick."

Williams scampered in with the requested items and froze when he saw the ensign's neck. Bones cleared his throat and Nurse Williams quickly handed the hypo to Bones while he set up the scanner.

Williams tried to contain his tears as he moved the scanner over her neck. He stared at the horrifying image that the scanner gave him.

"Doc; I think you're gonna want to see this," Williams called as he backed away from the screen, "If you need me; I'll be in the bathroom."

He quickly bolted out of the room with a tinge of green in his face. Bones raised his eyebrow-because Williams was as tough as stone when it came to medical work- and looked at the screen; paling when he saw what Nurse Williams saw. Tendrils of metal curled around Akeru's spine and they dug into some nerves and spinal disks. There was no way that even the best surgeons, the cleverest surgical techniques and the nimblest of fingers could even dream of having a chance of removing them while leaving the spine intact.

He didn't blame Williams for getting nauseous over the situation.

Williams stumbled back in the room, wiping his mouth with a cloth and tossing it in the trash. His pale face went pasty when he saw the image but the rest of yesterday's lunch stayed down, thankfully.

"Sir, is there any way to remove that… thing… from her neck?" Williams asked softly. Bones shook his head. This was so intertwined with her spine and nerves that damage would occur if they removed it.

Bones started to go through torture tools to see if any of the ones that he knew could leave injuries like that. He focused on collars because that… thing… on her neck was a collar.

"Sir, if I may be so bold; that collar around her neck looks like an illegal Klingon control collar. Klingons use them to control slaves," Williams said as he wiped tears from his cheek. Bones looked at Williams with a startled look. Williams smiled sadly at him, "My final project was on Xeno-torture tools and how to treat the injuries from them, both physical and psychological."

Bones nodded, "Anything else on these things?"

"These collars deliver a nasty shock to the victim and they can only be removed by a keyword programmed to a vocal response," Williams said as he brushed the hair off of Akeru's sweaty brow.

Bones shook his head and looked at the man, "This collar would have been expensive to buy and expensive to smuggle into Federation space, let alone Earth. Whoever put it on her must have been rich, really rich. Williams, you'll be her nurse. You're the only nurse with combat training and if a person of prestige put this on her, I can guarantee that they have people on the ship watching. And I know that you would never hurt a patient for money and neither would your brother."

Williams nodded and turned to take down the scanner. He paused and he looked over his shoulder to see Bones herding the still loopy Jim out of the room, "Sir, do you think that the person who did this to her is an Admiral?" Williams watched as Bones face darkened considerably, his normally warm eyes a chipped and brittle brown.

"Oh son, I don't doubt it for a minute."

 _ **Wildcat: Hey, more story! Was the chapter confusing? It was in her head after all so confusion might occur. Yes, Nurse Williams is based off of Matthew Williams out of Hetalia and so are the rest of his friends. I ran out of ideas for good characters. I own nothing.**_


	7. Chapter 7

Jim was having the time of his life.

No really, whatever Bones gave him was making him feel so fuzzy and warm; like he was riding naked on a cloud of marshmallow fluff.

He heard Bones and that pretty nurse taking about something but he was too busy riding his cotton candy cloud to pay attention. He felt a hand on his naked arm and that hand was pulling him somewhere.

"Sorry kid, I gave you a couple of milligrams too much. You can sleep it off on the couch," Jim was placed on a bed of cotton candy and a warm blanket made of even more cotton candy was pulled over Jim.

Jim snuggled into the blanket with a yawn that Bones thought was adorable, "I'll be at my desk if you need me, ok kid? Sleep well."

Jim curled up on the cotton candy bed and he closed his eyes.

Jim was asleep before Bones reached his desk.

 ** _Jim watched as images danced and flashed in front of him; a whirlwind of colour, light, smell, taste and texture. All of them were filled to the brim with emotions. Joy, sadness, love; all of them had one thing in common though. Bones Jim and Ensign Akeru were in all of these images._**

 ** _No… not Ensign Akeru._**

 **** ** _Ensign McCoy- Kirk._**

 ** _Yuki McCoy-Kirk._**

 ** _How could he forget his little sister? The girl that would make him tea; let him nap on the couch with her and rubbed his temples with her fingers when a migraine hit? The girl that could easily eat a giant mixing bowl of chocolate pudding in one sitting and not get sick like a dog? The girl that would so leave her weapons on the table just to piss Bones off?_**

 ** _That little sister._**

 ** _Jim was wondering why he was remembering her now of all times instead of when she first arrived or when she gave him his favourite tea. Why now?_**

 ** _Jim watched as the last memory they had together played in front of him like a poor quality movie. He Yuki and Bones were talking at the Golden Gate Bridge. Komack showed up with goons and tranquilizer guns. They shot the guns at them._**

 ** _Hey… wait a minute… They shot them! Oh when Jim got his hands on Komack he was going to throttle him real good!_**

 ** _Jim had woken up and saw the ceiling, kinda boring and grey but the table moved. He saw Yuki and Bones strapped to similar tables. Komack went on his rant and had 'graciously' allowed them to say goodbye._**

 **** ** _Komack had given him that damn drug and that damn thing messed with his and Bones head. But before he had lost conscious, he heard Yuki scream._**

Jim bolted up from the couch with a barely contained scream escaping from his oddly dried lips. Bones jumped up with screech of his own. Bones placed a hand over his rapidly beating heart as Jim panted on the couch; the blanket tangled in his legs and sweat dripping down his face. Bones reached for another hypo, worried that Jim would lash out if he approached now.

Bone will have to rely on all of his hypo sniping skills to get the hypo into Jim.

Jim was a fricking ninja.

And that was on a bad day.

"Jim; kid are you ok? Do I need to give you some sleepy time meds?" Bones asked as he slowly arched his arm back and prepared to throw.

Jim panted for a few more minutes and looked at Bones with a look in his eyes that had Bones ready to throw. It was a look that Bones had seen when they had first met, one Bones had only seen during the Georgian hunting season.

The look of a hunted animal.

Jim panted for a few minutes and slowly started to untangle his legs from the blanket that trapped his legs. Bones lowered the hypo ever so slightly as the blanket was slowly unravelled.

How Jim got the blanket so knotted was anyone's guess.

"I'm fine Bones but I just had the weirdest dream. I think."

"You think? You don't know if you had a dream or not?" Bones deadpanned, "Did I give too much of the relaxant? I did, didn't I?"

Jim jolted and stared at Bones with a startled, wide-eyed look that reminded Bones of a doe caught in headlight.

"Relaxants? When did you give me relaxants?" Jim asked.

If this was a 21st century anime, Bone would have sweat-dropped, "Relaxants? What relaxants? I gave you nothing Jim. Nothing at all."

Jim raised an eyebrow at Bones antics.

Then a light bulb clicked in his head.

"Ensign Mc- I mean Ensign Akeru! How is she doing?"

Bones chuckled, "She is still out but she is showing signs of improvement. At the rate she is healing at, she might get out earlier than I predicted but only if she stays in bed like a good patient should," He directed that last bit at Jim, who chuckled nervously and inched towards the door.

"I should get started on the pudding."

"Jim, you have ten minutes till shifts starts. Do you really want to make pudding right now?" Bones asked. Jim looked at the clock and yelped.

"Dammit Bones! You know Spock will nerve pinch me if I am late! I don't want to get nerve pinched!" Jim squawked as he raced around the room. Bones snagged some cologne from his drawers, pulled the cap off and waited until Jim was about to pass him. When Jim raced by, he sprayed him with it and Jim was out the door not even a second later.

"Thanks Bones! I'll see you later!" Jim called as he raced through the Sickbay to the lift. Bones shook his head and settled down to finish the last of the paperwork.

He signed the last of the sheets a couple of hours later and he stretched out, letting the tension and stress flow out of him. He stood up and headed for the door. He had to check on some patients and check on _her_.

Bones had a weird feeling about Ensign Akeru from the minute they had met.

Not the kinda weird that screamed 'dangerous' but the kinda weird that demanded that she be locked in Sickbay and fed cookies and candy all day for a week. Bones's fatherly instinct went batty and Bones had almost told Jim that he was locking her in Sickbay until she was a healthy weight but Jim had already assigned Akeru her shifts and she had left.

Bones walked over to his first patient, an idiot from Engineering that had shoot a staple gun into his hand by accident. Bones did his check and was glad to know that the fool was up to date on his vaccines, including his mandatory tetanus shots. Bones sent him to his quarters with pain meds and a warning to 'not be a damn fool and watch where the hell you aim the damn tool next time or else'!

… Ahem…

The trend of idiocy continued for the most part. The only patient that wasn't there because they were damn idiots was a pregnant Navigator that had come for her monthly check-up. That was the fun visit. He had the honour of telling her that she was having identical twin girls. She had then commed her husband with the good news. A 'thunk' on the other end and a curious Spock that had asked 'what was going on' had told Bones exactly what the husband had done.

He had sent a gurney to collect the unconscious fool and he left to check on his final patient, Akeru. She was sleeping peacefully… mostly. Sweat beaded her face and two rosy spots adorned her cheeks but she was not in obvious pain. Williams was checking her vitals and recording them for her file.

"How is she doing?" Bones asked as he read the PADD.

Williams turned towards him and smiled softly, "Yuki is doing well. She is still asleep but there were no nightmares thankfully. The fever is the only thing that's worrying me but the temperature dropped by a couple of degrees."

Bones nodded and turned back to the PADD, "Have you figured anyway for us to remove the collar from her neck and spinal column?" He asked as he flicked back to the images that the scanner had taken when they had scanned her.

"You can actually thank my brother Al for this but I have an idea. I would need to know and have a couple things," Bones turned his undivided attention to Williams, "I would need the best recording and vocal mimicry software in the universe, the phrase and the asshole who did this to talk for a few minutes."

Bones looked surprised at Williams, who blushed and rubbed his neck, "I didn't tell them, I swear! Al is an Engineer that doubles as a DJ. My friends had found out about Yuki's collar and had ambushed me when I entered my level. How they found out, I will never figure out but we had sat down in my room and they pitched ideas. Al mentioned that if he had the phrase and a few minutes of the man speaking, he could make the voice mimic the phrase and get the collar off."

Bones was shocked but the completely unorthodox idea not only had merit but it had the best chance of working. But this also proved that there was a leak in medical and he knew that it was not Williams. Williams would take a secret to the grave if it put a patient at risk and Bones had met his friends. They were the most trustworthy people beside the senior command so he was comforted by the fact that they had found out but he didn't want to think of what would happen if the rest of the crew found out.

"Sir?"

Bones looked up to see a worried Williams and smiled at him, "As long as it stays within your friends, I have no problem with them knowing but," He dropped his voice into a whisper, "The fact that they found out and you didn't tell them worries me. That means that we have a leak and that they had already told some of the crew could mean that the bastard that had stuck that collar on her might know that she is in here and that we know. I want you to figure out whom. I am going to alert Jim that a leak has occurred and recommend that we act normal."

Williams nodded, "Sir you do remember that we are in a section of space that has an anomaly that blocks outside communication at the moment? We have a week to figure out who before the ass gets a message out," He smiled, a sinister version of the normally sweet gesture.

Bones grinned at the man, also displaying his evil side; much to the fear of the staff on duty.

Whoever screwed up was so dead.

 ** _Wildcat: Is the funny bits even a little funny? I want to know because I'm trying to_** ** _incorporate_** **** ** _a little humour into the relaxing slice of life moments and not the 'oh my gosh! Someone is getting hurt' moments. I own nothing but my laptop and my OC's._**


	8. Chapter 8

Jim let the water flow and dance on his skin. He was so ready to go to bed but he wanted to go see Yuki first and Bones didn't know that Jim knew where the cots were located. He quickly went through his usual shower routine and climbed out. He wrapped a towel around his hips; he knocked on Spock's door to let him know that he was done. Jim scrambled into his room just as the handle on the second door twisted open.

Jim didn't want a repeat of the make out on the counter incident.

Jim reached for his pyjamas and he slipped into them. The image of Yuki swamped in his old high school sweater and Bones track pants played out in his mind's eye and he chuckled. Jim grabbed a canvas tote bag that Nyota had gotten him as a gift on her last shore leave and stuffed a pillow and blanket inside it.

He slipped on a pair of cute fox slippers that was yet another gag gift from Bones and left the room. He entered the lift and pressed in the key for level F. A few more crew members had gotten on the lift and were amused by the state of comfort the Captain was oozing and the fox slippers were the cherry on top. Jim had finally got off on level F and he made his way down the hall. He stopped in front of 89 and he reached for the key pad.

"Keptin? Vhat are you doing?"

Jim whirled around to face Pasha, who had a small bouquet of flowers in his hand.

"Umm… I want to bring Akeru a comfortable pair of pyjamas. Do you know where they are Pasha?"

Pavel raised an eyebrow, doing a very good impression of Spock, "Da, I knov vhere zhey are. Look in zhe zop drawer on zhe righz side of zhe bed; she alvays puzs zhem zhere."

"Thanks Pasha, I owe you one," Jim said as he punched in the captains' override and entered.

The room looked like a war took place in it.

Pieces of her uniform were strewn everywhere and the drawers were torn open, dropped on the floor with its contents littering the area surrounding their respective drawers. The mirror was smashed and pieces of yellow paper were scattered among the glass, diamond shards and pale topaz leaves a cruel testament to the disaster that filled the room. The bed was ripped apart and the blankets were destroyed. The weapons that once rested on anti-gravity stands were thrown about in pieces and the books that had once made their home on the shelves were now on the floor. The worst of the destruction however was the words; painted on in a gaudy red 'Leave the ship filthy slut'.

Pavel and Jim gawked at the chaos until Jim snapped his comm out of the bag and called Gregori, "Cupcake, I need you to place a protective detail on Ensign Akeru and send down a CSI team. I have a crime scene for them. It's room 89 on level F."

Pavel nearly dropped his flowers but managed to regain enough of his composure to stumble across the hall and retrieve Hikaru. Hikaru was shocked but he herded Jim and Pavel back into his room and had two cups of hot chocolate made from the replicator. He also dumped two shot glasses of vodka into the mugs.

Cupcake and the CSI team showed up two minutes later. Cupcake managed to get a statement from Pavel and Jim while the team took pictures and collected evidence. Jim was really glad he had insisted that the ship should have a CSI unit in the Security department.

Cupcake was about to leave to see how the team was doing when the door flew open and a bunch of people ran the poor man over. Jim was surprised when Ronan, Minette, Jackson, T'salk and Huckleberry swarmed the room; hugging Pavel and Jim. The only ones that were not in the hug were Jackson and T'salk, who was helping Cupcake up and herding him out of the room.

"What happened here Pavel?" Minette asked as she ran fingers through his hair. Jim decided to answer for the both of them.

"I went to her room to retrieve her pyjamas because I figured that she would want to walk up in something comfortable when Pavel asked me what I was doing. I told him and asked him if he knew where they were. I unlocked the door as he told me which drawer they were in. I opened the door and we saw the room. We stood there for a minute and I commed Cupcake and the CSI unit," Jim recited with a blank look in his eyes as he stared at the floor.

He missed the worried looks that was given and Pavel's confirmation of the story. He missed Huckleberry comming Bones and Cupcake bringing Yuki's pyjamas-which had somehow survived the violent rampage that had destroyed the room- and Pavel placing them in Jim's bag. His only thought was that he failed Yuki in the worst way possible. He had allowed her room to be destroyed and all of her meagre possessions were gone. A hand on his shoulder pulled of him out of his rapidly darkening thoughts. Jim looked up to see Cupcake holding a burlap satchel in his hand and Bones's hand was lightly squeezing his shoulder.

"What do you have there, Cupcake?" Jim asked as Bones gently massaged the shoulder his hand was resting on.

"We found this under the bed sir. Most of the possessions that were destroyed were clothes and make-up, superficial items but the important things were stored in here. We found a photo album that has a DNA lock on it, a few pieces of jewellery that was in a small wooden chest, and three kimonos. Two of them were made for a man and one for a woman and we found a PADD that was encrypted. When we tried to open it; a video of Ensign Akeru appeared. She had a piece of paper that said that only family could open it," Cupcake said as he handed the bag to Jim.

Jim nodded and took the bag, gently placing it inside his tote, "I will keep these safe until we can locate them."

Cupcake nodded and left. Bones turned to look at Jim and Pavel with a critical eye, "You two are going to Sickbay overnight. You are both in shock and I would rather have you under observation than have you wander around in your current states," Pavel nearly protested but it died on his lips when he saw Jim simply nod, the blank, haunted look returning.

Bones and Hikaru guided them to the lift with the rest of level F tailing them. They made it there with little incident and Bones checked Pavel first then Jim. He placed them on the bio-beds next to Akeru and insisted that they sleep. Pavel and the others dropped off first but Jim was wide awake.

Bones hoped that he would sleep but when he came to check on him two hours later, Jim was still up and he was fiddling with the encrypted PADD and the DNA locked photo album.

"Jim, you do realize that is meant for her family right?" Bones asked as Jim set the PADD aside and focused on the book.

"… I know… but Bones…"

Bones waited for Jim to spit out whatever he wanted to say but Jim was acting shy.

"Jim, you can tell me what's going on. I won't tell a soul." Bones promised. Jim looked at him nervously but nodded.

"That dream I had before shift started," Jim stopped but Bones climbed on the Bio-bed and smiled softly; encouraging Jim to continue, "Well it wasn't a dream. It was more like regaining memories. It was like watching a poorly done movie that I knew inside and out. I don't know why or how but I remember her. All of those memories told me one thing. Yuki Akeru isn't just another face, she actually had lived with us in the dorm Bones," Jim looked at Bones with wide, tear-filled eyes that had Bones wanting to hug him, "She shared our struggles and laughed at our jokes. She had helped us study and had taught us so many things. Yuki isn't just a person we used to know; she was our little sister."

Bones was shocked, so shocked in fact that he would have called Jim insane if it wasn't for the fact that Jim would never tell a lie.

And the truth was even scarier.

"Bones? Please don't tell me that you think that I am insane because I will call Spock and have him mind-meld with me so I can prove it." Bones looked at Jim; who was fidgeting and looking nervous.

"No kid, I don't think that you are insane but if you remember her; why don't I?"

Jim looked contemplative for a minute than he snapped his fingers and had a triumphant look on his face, "The dose of the drug!"

Bones must have had a confused look on his face because Jim quickly filled him in, "Long story short, Komack gave us a drug that was designed to force our minds to supress certain memories. He must have given you a greater dosage because you had spent more time with her. Either that or he didn't want to damage his prized fighter," He spat that last bit like it was a bitter poison and Bones agreed with Jim. That sounded like something that the old fart would do if he didn't get his way.

A click caught both of their attentions and they turned to see that the album was unlocked. Jim looked and saw that Bones left hand had landed on the DNA lock during their conversation.

Bones looked surprised and he reached for the cover. Jim motioned for Bones to snuggle up and they could look at the book together. Bones got comfortable and they looked in it together.

 ** _Bones was at his desk studying. Jim was out getting books from the library and he was supposed to be watching Yuki. It had only been a day since they had taken in the newly named Yuki. She was silent but she was a total sweetheart. Jim loved her and if Bones was to be honest, so did he._**

 ** _A loud crash came from the kitchen. Bones jumped up startled and he raced over. Standing in the middle of the kitchen wearing Jims old track pants and a tank top and covered head to toe in flour was the girl in question. She looked like she was about to cry and Bones couldn't help but coo at how cute she looked._**

 ** _"_** ** _Bones! Yuki! I'm home! Hey guys, where are you two?" Jim wandered into the kitchen and nearly dropped his books at the sight._**

 ** _"_** ** _Yuki are you ok? What happened here?! You were supposed to be watching her Bones!"_**

 ** _Bones watched as Jim fretted over her and reached for the camera. He positioned it and waited for the perfect moment. He got it when Jim hugged her._**

 ** _'_** ** _Click'_**

 ** _Jim and Yuki turned and looked at Bones, who just grinned at them and waved the camera at them._**

 ** _"_** ** _For the photo album," Was the answer that he gave them._**

Bones chuckled at the picture of Jim hugging a flour covered Yuki but he had a feeling that he was the one that took it. Jim smiled and flipped the page.

 ** _Bones was asleep on the couch and Jim was up studying. He was more than just a pretty face you know. Yuki was at the library; working on a project that was supposed to be a group thing but she had ended up doing all the work. It was due tomorrow too._**

 ** _A click had told Jim that Yuki had finally made it home. He heard her dropped her bag on the bed beside him and he looked at her. Yuki looked haggard and her long hair was in a dishevelled bun. Her tail swung in a manner that told Jim that she was angry and her ears were flat against her head._**

 ** _"_** ** _What happened at the library Yuki?" Jim asked as she ripped her boots and pants off; they were just that comfortable with each other._**

 ** _Yuki yanked on the track pants that Bones had given her on the first day and she tugged her shirt over her head. Jim snorted at the fact she turned away from him, showing him her back. She yanked the tank top on and unclipped her neon leopard print bra; pulling it off and throwing it in the general direction of the laundry basket. Yuki pulled Jim's baggy high school sweater over her head and sighed softly._**

 ** _"_** ** _My damn group failed to show and I did all the work by myself again. Then Virginia Lewis showed up with her bitch brigade and they made such a racket near my station that the Librarian came to investigate. They blamed me for it but that's not the best part! The best part was that they tried to erase my work when I was telling the Librarian the truth! I luckily saved my work on my PADD as well but the Librarian didn't believe me and nearly threw me out! If it wasn't for Galia, I would have been thrown out and banned from the library! I am so frustrated that they had tried that but I have all the work done and if the others try to take credit for it, I will be so mad!" She ranted. Jim nodded and handed her a pudding cup. Yuki ate the chocolaty treat and yawned._**

 ** _"_** ** _You've had a rough day today sweetheart .You had a lot of work to do and on top of that, you had to deal with Virginia. Why don't you go sleep on the couch? You'll feel better in the morning. I promise and since Bones and I have a day off tomorrow, we can go sit in your class and make sure that you get that credit you deserve," Jim said, completely forgetting that Bones was also sleeping on the couch._**

 ** _Yuki nodded and ambled towards the couch. She raised her eyebrow when she saw Bones but decided that sleeping on top of Bones was a smart idea. Yuki climbed on top of him and laid flat on her stomach. She snuggled in; unaware of the fact that Bones had woke up when she joined him on the couch and unaware that he laid an arm on her back, pulling her close._**

 ** _Jim stretched out and closed his book._**

 ** _He will pass that test on Friday._**

 ** _He turned to the couch, having not heard a peep from Yuki and froze. Yuki and Bones were cuddling on the couch. Bones had slung an arm across Yuki's back and she had somehow managed to tuck her head in the crook of his neck._**

 ** _Jim reached for the camera and snapped a couple of photo's for that album that Bones was making her for Christmas._**

Jim snorted at the picture and Bones blushed. He quickly flicked through the pages, the memories coming back little by little. He stopped on a page.

 ** _Jim jogged beside Yuki and Bones. The mandatory marathon tha they had to run was brutal. The damn teacher had assigned easier marathons to the rest of the class but he had given them the famous Death Run. Bones and Jim knew why but thankfully Yuki was clueless. Galia had volunteered to wait for them at the end and Jim was thankful to the girl._**

 ** _Damn racist teacher._**

 ** _Bones panted and Yuki had developed a nasty wheeze. Jim wished that they could walk but they had to maintain a good speed. One of the teachers' stupid rules; if they walked for any part of the marathon, they would get a fail and they would fail the mandatory physical mark that they needed to move onto the next year._**

 ** _"_** ** _A little longer Yuki. We're almost at the end." Bones panted. Yuki nodded and stumbled along. Jim was ready to catch her if she fell but they managed to make it across the finish line. They were last but the teacher never said that they had to finish in a spot, they just had to finish. Galia was there as well with smiles on her lips. Jim and Bones slowed to a walk but Yuki tried continuing to run. Bones snorted and snagged her arm as she staggered past._**

 ** _"_** ** _It's ok Yuki, you can stop running now; we crossed the finish line. I want to give you a check-up but we need to get water into you first," He said as he pressed a water bottle into her hand. Jim went to collect the medals that showed that they completed the marathon. Jim looped it over Bones neck as he tried to stop Yuki from chugging it. Jim waited until Bones had succeeded and he placed the medal around Yuki's neck. The awed look that she gave him was so worth the marathon and the wait._**

 ** _"_** ** _Turn around and I'll get a picture!" Galia called as she readied the camera. Bones placed an arm around Yuki's waist and Jim slung an arm over her shoulders. They beamed at the camera and Galia got the best picture in the world. A beaming Yuki sandwiched in between a laughing Jim and a smiling Bones._**

 ** _Then Yuki collapsed._**

Jim and Bones smiled at the photo and Jim turned the page as Bones rubbed his head, a headache forming. He wondered if it was caused by the late hours, the lack of sleep or the memories that were starting to rush him. It could be a combination of all three.

 ** _Yuki had been in the Academy infirmary for two hours and they had just put her in a bed. She had exhaustion and low blood sugar as well as breathing issues._**

 ** _The teacher had tried to take away the medal because of the fact she fainted but Jim, Bones, and Galia had ganged up on the teacher. He had left with a huff but Jim had done a very immature victory dance. Galia had left with a promise to stop by soon._**

 ** _Bones had left the camera on the night side stand and looked at her vitals; not trusting the staff to have her interests at heart. The last time they were here, the doctor tried to prescribe her poor quality medication. Bones had caught it in time but Bones had Yuki's main doctor changed to himself._**

 ** _He turned back to the bed and stopped. Jim had climbed on the bed and curled on Yuki's left side when his back was turned. It was adorable and oh so perfect revenge for that picture he had got of Yuki and Bones snuggling on the couch. He snapped a few of them and then he put it back and slipped his shoes off. He was dead tired and Jim clearly had the right idea. Besides the only doctor that he trusted was on shift and knew that they were in here and he was the only one that Bones had asked to be allowed in._**

 ** _Galia came back a few hours later, exhausted. The teacher had tried to pull a fast one on the board by telling them that she had fainted before the finish line. Galia had heard that little snippet of news from a random student and had stormed into the room just as they were about to give their verdict._**

 ** _Galia was quite proud of the shit storm she caused._**

 ** _After she told the council off for giving judgement without getting any evidence, she gave an honest account of what happened. They had promised to investigate and that only happened after Galia had asked them._**

 ** _Read, threatened them._**

 ** _She stopped when she entered the room and Galia had to stop herself from giggling. Bones and Jim were asleep on the bed; snuggled up to Yuki who looked like she was at peace. Galia spotted the camera and snatched it up. She took a few pictures and placed it back on the bed side. Galia grabbed a folded blanket that rested on the chair and opened it over the trio; covering them with a small flourish of her hands. She cooed at how cute it was and Galia left, missing the man that was glowering at the sleeping and unaware triad in the room._**

Jim smiled softly. He couldn't believe that he had forgotten about Yuki. Jim heard a groan and he turned to see that Bones was rubbing his head. Jim fixed the pillows and pulled Bones out of the bed. He grabbed his blanket and he led Bones to Yuki's Bio-bed. Making Bones climb on first, he flicked the blanket open and covered the two on the bed. Jim climbed on afterwards and he settled down. ****

Spock entered the kitchen; wanting nothing more than a well-deserved cup of tea.

This week alone has been hectic.

It had been a whole week since Ensign Akeru had been admitted into Sickbay and the main Science level had not been the same since. Fraserson and his cohort Tikkasala had been unsurprisingly pleased that she was gone but the rest of the level had gotten together behind the Yeoman's back to figure out what had happened to her. Yeoman Gin and Ensign Chekov had done an exemplary job in explaining what had happened and how she is doing.

Once the other scientists had been briefed of the situation, they had banded together to make her some get well gifts. The astronomers- led by Pavel Chekov- were building a night-time projector that changed constellations by sector; the botanists- led by one Hikaru Sulu- were growing a variety of plants and herbs that could be used in teas; the chemists- led by Ronan Gin- were making a set of 'fairy lights' that could float on their own around the room and there was some other items as well.

Fraserson and Tikkasala were confused as to why the rest of the scientists were making these things but had chalked it up to them being bored without a 'cute little pet' running around. Spock and some of the others had to hold Chekov, Sulu and both Gins' back to prevent them from attacking the two idiots.

What they did next made Spock let go of Chekov.

Fraserson had claimed station fifteen as his own and both men had proceeded to carelessly throw Akeru's beloved weapons into a bin. Vulcan emeici, Klingon daggers, Romulan bastard swords; all tossed in a bin haphazardly with little respect for all the work Akeru put in to making them. Chekov was flailing around violently and Sulu was angry. Spock decided that it was the logical choice to let go of Chekov. He felt no pleasure in watching a skinny Russian beat the absolute crap out of the two burly Yeomen.

None what so ever.

Spock had proceeded to the kettle when he heard a 'clang'. He turned around and froze. Captain Kirk had his back turned to him and he was mixing something by hand. Ingredients were scattered all around the Captain and Spock saw a pot sitting on the stove. Spock crept over and peeked over the shorter man's shoulder. Captain Kirk was whisking a mixture and he was pouring chocolate into it. Spock knew then and there that he would be avoiding whatever the Captain was making.

"You know Spock, having chocolate in not a bad thing. You just have to be supervised and this is pudding by the way,"

Spock startled and looked right into the Captains eyes. They held the mischievous sparkle that Spock had grown to enjoy… not that he will ever admit that. Only Nyota will ever know that Spock loved his Captain like an annoying little brother that Spock never had.

"I prefer not to be intoxicated while on duty sir and with this ship, one must be on constant vigilance and thus make us on duty at all times."

Jim snorted at Spock. That Vulcan can be a damn sassy little thing when he wanted to be. Jim folded the chocolate shavings into the pudding; well aware of the Vulcan that was watching what Jim was doing. Jim snagged a giant container out of the cupboard and scooped the finished treat into it. He grabbed some plastic wrap and placed directly on top of the pudding before sealing it.

"What are you doing with the plastic wrap Captain?" Ah, good ole Vulcan curiosity. Jim turned to Spock, who had managed to get over to the kettle and had turned it on.

"I put the plastic wrap on top to prevent a skin from forming on the pudding. A pudding skin is a layer that has a dull gloss and it makes the pudding unattractive to the eye. I live by the saying that people eat with their eyes first so a skin is a big no-no in my books," Jim explained as he placed the container with a stack of similar containers. Spock raised his eyebrows and turned to the Captain, who had started to clean up the mess he made.

"You have experience in the culinary field," Spock stated. Jim froze for a second and continued to clean.

Jim placed the pot in the warm water and dumped the utensils into the pot, "Yea, I traveled around a fair bit before Starfleet. Most of the jobs that I got were jobs in the kitchen. Cleaning, prepping, grilling but I always had a love for desserts and baking. I eventually took a course in Paris and graduated the top of my class. I bought cook books everywhere I went; Beijing, Tokyo, Dubai, Toronto, Rio de Janeiro, Rome. If I went there, I bought a cook book from there. It got so bad that I had to store them in a unit back in San Francisco. I brought them aboard of course. I even have a PADD full of local recipes that even the most masterful of pastry chef couldn't replicate without knowing the local techniques."

"Do you know these techniques?" Spock asked as he sat at the table with his cup and pot of tea.

"Yea, the elders taught me and gave me a copy of the recipe that I had learned," Jim hummed as he scrubbed the pot, "I have over five hundred recipes so far."

Jim was very amused when Spock had choked on his mouthful of tea when he said that.

Spock tried to sputter out a response but Bones stumbled into the kitchen, headed straight for the coffee pot.

"Morning sunshine," Jim teased as Bones reached the coffee pot and had poured himself a cup. He reached for the bourbon but Jim had snatched the bottle and placed it in a cabinet that had a lock on it, "Ah, no. You are not getting alcohol into your system this early. You are going to sit down and I'll make you and Spock some breakfast. Full American breakfast or a ham and cheese omelette?"

Bones grumbled, "The omelette, you damn fiend."

Jim smiled and opened the fridge, "What about you Spock? Same thing or the Full American?"

Spock looked at the Captain for a minute and said softly, "The omelette as well Captain. Thank you for making breakfast."

Jim's smile turned into a grin and he pulled out the eggs, shredded cheese and chopped ham. He snagged a pan of the shelf and grabbed the butter. He dropped a dollop of butter into the pan and turned on the heat. Cracking and mixing the eggs in a medium sized bowl, Jim added a heaping handful of cheese and another one of ham into the bowl and he mixed them in well. The butter had melted at this point and Jim had poured the whole bowl into the pan. He watched it carefully and Jim flipped it with a flick of his wrist once he was satisfied.

Spock kept his eyes on the flying food, nervous that the Captain would drop it and a mess would occur but his fears were unfounded as it landed back in the pan on the other side. Jim hummed a small tune as he cooked and Spock started to relax. The Captain had a lovely voice, just as well as Nyota's. Spock smiled at the thought and he reached for his comm.

"Is Nyota joining us or is she still asleep in your room Spock?" Jim asked as he took a knife to the omelette.

"I am calling her now," Spock stated as the comm rang for a second.

" _Ello_?" A drowsy voice drifted through the comm. Jim snorted and flinched when Bones whipped the hand-towel that lay beside him at Jim.

"Good morning Nyota," Spock said with a warm smile, "Did you have a good rest last night?"

They could clearly hear her yawn and Jim quietly cooed; Spock had thrown a sugar cube at Jim as his girlfriend answered him, " _I slept well last night. Where are you beloved_?"

"In the level kitchen with the Captain and CMO McCoy; the Captain is making breakfast and was wondering if you would like to join us?" Spock asked as the Captain flipped the omelette onto a plate and was slicing it.

" _I'll be there in a minute. I want to see this for myself,_ " She replied. They heard a shuffling sound in the background and Spock smirked.

"See you in a minute," He shut off the comm.

"What? No sweet, cheesy, gooey 'I love you' at the end?" Jim asked, with a surprisingly disappointed look on his face.

Spock looked at him ludicrously and was about to reply when McCoy beat him to it; a smirk gracing his tan face, "Jim's a sucker for romance. He had just as many romance novels as he has cook books; in just as many languages. I think he was the one responsible for getting Hikaru's head out of his ass about his feelings for Pavel. He also cooked the meal that they ate on that first date. Believe me when I tell you, Jim is the biggest closet romantic I have ever met."

Jim whipped a dinner roll from the bread basket at Bones; the man ducking with a laugh. A startled yelp made them turn to look at the door way. Nyota stood there in a tank top and a pair of flannel pants with the thrown dinner roll at her feet.

She was about to say something when Jim beat her to it, "I'm sorry! Bones was teasing me and I retaliated with the bun! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please don't kill me!" He grovelled, on his knees in front of Nyota. McCoy was laughing hysterically while Spock was very amused.

She waited a couple of minutes, letting the Captain sweat and letting the two men have their fun before she answered, "Oh very well, I forgive you."

Jim lit up and scampered over to the omelettes, serving them on a plate.

"Hey Jim," Jim turned to Bones, who had the biggest smirk on his face, "You have a little something on your nose."

Jim scowled at Bones and he placed the second smallest slice in front of the Georgian man, ignoring the shocked gasp as he placed the remaining two plates in front of Spock and Nyota.

Bones noticed that Jim's slice was only a quarter of what everyone else had got but he didn't say a word and when Spock and Nyota tried, he shut them up with a look.

A quarter was a lot more than what Jim would normally eat in the morning.

The rest of the meal passed in silence… mostly. Chewing, sipping, and the clatter of the silverware filled the air as the meal rapidly disappeared.

Bones waited till the last bite was eaten and everyone had collected a caffeinated beverage of their choice before attempting a conversation. He opened his mouth…

" _Sir! Sir! Medical to CMO McCoy!"_

Bones bonked his head off the table and reached for his comm, "Yes Williams. I hear you loud and clear. Does whatever you are frigging panicking about involve her?"

" _Yes sir! Yuki Akeru waking up!_ "

 ** _Wildcat: Wow... so much words... I own nothing..._**


End file.
